Boot Camp All Over Again
by DreamHarvesterPress
Summary: His universe no longer needs his strength. His universe no longer needs his protection. But another universe is on the brink of destruction, and he may be the key to it's survival. It is time for the angel of death and destruction to rise once again. AN: I need a good cover for the story. If you have any ideas, please PM me.
1. Not My War

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Ender's Game, and I would like to thank the creators of both worlds for creating something awesome.**

**AN: I don't have a Beta, nor do I want one. If you see an error, please let me know.**

Chapter 1, Not My War:

The Master Chief sat on his bed on the _Infinity_, staring down at the floor between his feet. In his mind, the events aboard the Composer played over and over, everything that had happened. He so desperately wished that he could see a chink, a crack, anything that he had missed previously that could save her. He couldn't find anything.

With a sigh, he rolled onto his bed. The ceiling was just as bare as the floor, but it didn't matter. Nothing he did mattered anymore. The war was over, the Didact was defeated, and the Arbiter had all but crushed the Covenant Loyalists. There was nothing left for him to do, no wars for him to fight, no threats that needed a Spartan-II.

For someone who had spent his whole life fighting, it was agony. He had nothing to do, nowhere to go. He was lost, and loosing Cortana had not helped. His head felt empty, almost hollow with her gone. There was nothing he could do about it.

Fighting the vacant feeling that was beginning to rise in his chest, he rolled onto his side and breathed deeply. It took a few minutes, but he fell asleep.

* * *

Captain Lasky stood on the bridge of the UNSC _Infinity_, staring silently at Earth. He quietly thought about all of the work that needed to be done to rebuild humanity. They had come so close to destruction, between the Covenant and the Flood, their numbers had been reduced greatly, and even they had been in peril when the Didact had threatened to destroy the entire human race. Between that and the Halos, Spartan 117 had saved humanity single-handedly multiple times.

Which was where his other problem was about to come in.

"Captain," the ship's A.I., Roland, piped up, "there's an unusual energy signature coming from Sierra-117's room. The signature is indicative of a slipspace rupture."

Lasky turned towards the orange fighter pilot. "What?"

* * *

The Chief didn't wake as a portal opened up around him. It engulfed the super-solider with a swirling blue and black pattern. Then as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. And it had taken the Spartan with it.

The Chief opened his eyes to an odd sight. He was strapped securely into a seat, alongside a bunch of six-year-olds. It then occurred to him that he was the same height. He looked down at himself, finding the body of his youth. It was strong and well-toned, and right away he could tell that he still had his augmentations, though toned down for a child.

When he looked around, he could tell that the vehicle had to be a spacecraft of some kind. There were handholds all over the interior of the ship, even on the sides and roof. Also, the straps were suited for securing someone in zero-g. He looked around, taking in the other children. Some were talking amongst themselves, while others just observed the world around them.

He drank in whatever tactical information he could. How to undo the straps securing him quickly, were all the handholds were, which children would be a problem in a fight, which ones wouldn't. There were a total of twenty children, and each wore a single-piece uniform.

For the most part, the boys were horse playing with each other. He then noticed one boy who was not. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and a serious face. He was examining the seat straps when an officer entered the compartment.

"Oh, already figured it out." The man was standing on one of the many ladders on the shuttle. John noticed his name tag said Graff.

"Coming with us?" Inquired the boy.

"I don't usually come down for recruiting. I'm kind of in charge there. Administrator of the school. Like a principal. They told me I had to come back of I'd loose my job."

They boy smiled at the man and relaxed. The Chief watched the interaction with interest. _So we're going to some kind of orbital school?_

Some adults came around and checked the straps on the children, helping those that hadn't figured it out. A woman came to him and smiled when she saw that he had done the harness properly. He just looked back with a blank, emotionless face. Her smile faltered, and she moved on.

After that, a film started on where they were going. He stored all of the information away, the film was highly educational. The dates in the film preceded any dates of humanity leaving Earth. There had been alien contact before the Covenant. The only explanations that he could think of involved an alternate timeline, alternate universe, or he was in a coma and dreaming of la-la land. He wanted to believe the last option, but it felt too real. He would have had to bet on the alternate timeline. As for the "BattleSchool" though, his experience could make this a cakewalk. _Though, I'd better hide that._ He glanced around at the other children. _A six-year-old with war training and years of experience will draw attention._

Eventually they took off. There was a little turbulence, but it was better than a Pelican. Then, the gravity faded. He was hanging by the straps that held him in place. The other boys were struggling, their orientation missing and stomachs bunching. He noticed the serious kid looked relatively at ease, as if the change in gravity hadn't affected him. In fact, he looked fascinated by it.

There was the sound of shoes on metal, and he looked to see Graff climbing down the ladder on the "floor". Suddenly, he hooked his foot on a rung, and flipped himself upright. One boy gagged, but didn't puke. The Chief realized that they must not have eaten before leaving.

John then realized that the serious boy was grinning from ear to ear, with his head tilted to the side, slightly.

"What do you think is so funny, Wiggin?" Graff barked at the boy.

The boy-Wiggin-snapped his head upright, and the smile vanished.

"I asked you a question, solider!" Graff sounded angry, but the Chief saw through it. He looked regretful, though it was hidden behind a mask.

"Yes sir."

"Well answer it, then!"

"I thought of you hanging upside down by your feet. I thought it was funny."

Graff glared at the Wiggin boy. "To you I suppose it is funny. Is it funny to anybody else here?"

There were murmurs of no. The Chief didn't find it funny, but he admired the kid for thinking in zero-gee already. It bespoke of intuition and an open mind.

"Well why isn't it?" Graff paused, looking at the children like a drill sergeant looks at his new trainees. "Scum-brains, that's what we've got in this launch. Pinheaded little morons. Only one of you had the brains to realize that in null gravity directions are what you conceive them to be. Do you understand that, Shafts?"

Shafts nodded, however the Chief doubted he could apply that information.

"No you didn't. Of course you didn't. Not only stupid, but a liar too. There's only one boy on this launch with any brains _at all_, and that's Ender Wiggin. Take a good look at him, little boys. He's going to be a commander when you're still in diapers up there. Because he knows how to think in null gravity, and you just want to throw up."

The Chief tuned the rest of his speech out. He could see the tactic of isolating the boy right away. Why would he be doing that? Having a cohesive unit that worked seamlessly together was the key to success. It pushed the team and individuals further than if they had been alone. It made no sense to him. _Then again, I am in what appears to be a different timeline-that or hallucinating, so who knows._

Suddenly, Graff flipped around and pulled himself into his seat in the cockpit.

The Chief leaned back in his seat, prepared to get some sleep on the ride. Before he could close his eyes, he noticed one of the boys whispering to Ender. Ender didn't reply.

"Oh, won't talk to me?" The boy had a note of malice in his voice.

"I didn't ask him to say that stuff," Ender murmured.

The boy had undone his belts-not a good idea-and was hitting Ender over the head. The Chief decided to intervene.

"Stop that." His voice was deep for a six-year-old, but was high-pitched from what he was used too.

The boy sneered at him before hitting Ender over the head again. The others started throwing insults, and Ender cried out softly with pain as another blow was struck. The Chief had had enough. He started to undo his harness, just as Ender reached up.

He caught the boy's arm in his flowered hands, and yanked down hard. Ender had forgotten about the null gravity, and the boy went flying over his head. He bounced off the ceiling, against a boy in his seat, tumbled into an isle, and slammed into a bulkhead, left arm twisting unnaturally underneath.

The Chief strapped himself back in. _Idiot, the straps are there for a reason._ Graff came out of the front and grabbed the boy. "Left arm. Broken, I think." Another man drugged the boy and put a splint around the arm. He noticed that Ender looked pale.

Graff turned to them. "What are you, slow learners? In your feeble little minds, haven't you picked up one little fact? You were brought here to be _soldiers_. In you old schools, in your old families, maybe…

The Chief tuned out the rest, leaning his head back against the seat. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to drift into a light sleep. He would wake at the slightest provocation, so he wouldn't miss the landing.

He awoke when the ship jolted into the dock. With a few deft movements, he expertly undid his straps. However, he waited to be the last out. He was right after Ender, whom seemed to be lagging as well. He waited as Ender talked to the adults, and then moved on. Then he moved up to them.

He turned to glare darkly at them. He held eye contact for a second, then he strode off with Graff and Anderson (he had seen the man's name badge) staring after him. Normally he wouldn't have done that, but these kids were impressionable. And if he remembered correctly from his younger years, children held grudges longer than adults. He didn't want them to cause problems that a bunch of kids weren't equipped to handle.

_Now, how in Hell am I supposed to get home._


	2. Should I or Should I Not?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Ender's Game, and I would like to thank the creators of both worlds for creating something awesome. Also, I don't have a Beta, nor do I want one. If you see an error, please let me know.**

Chapter 2, Should I, or Should I Not?

"Hey, wait up." The Chief's deep voice rumbled through the air. The person being addressed turned to face him.

"Yeah?" Ender asked warily.

"You okay?"

Ender's eyes softened from wariness to friendliness. "Yeah. Hey, thanks for sticking up for me back there."

John nodded. "No problem." They walked in silence for a minute. "You know, you're life here is going to be hell."

Ender turned curiously to him. "Why's that?"

The Chief grunted. "The people that run this place are obviously trying to isolate you. They're going to do everything they can think of to make your life miserable."

Ender didn't look happy. "Great."

The Chief sighed and dropped his chin to his chest. He wondered what this place had in store for him.

Eventually they arrived at the door to their rooms. It was rather plain, with rows of bunk beds that were child sized. Each had a locker on the end, obviously for possessions. The beds open were the two on the bottom closest to the door. Ender hesitated, looking a little miffed.

_I don't care. _He walked up to the left one, nodded, and began to fiddle with his locker.

"Hey, thanks. I thought I was going to have to _ask_ for the low bunk by the door."

John turned and eyed him for a moment before turning back. The kid had sounded sincere. Well, who was he to argue?

He found a paper taped to his locker

PLACE YOUR HAND ON THE SCANNER  
AT THE HEAD OF YOUR BUNK  
AND SPEAK YOUR NAME TWICE.

Crap. He _did not_ want to give them his name. His real one, that is. A wry grin crossed his face. _Let's see what they think of _this_._

He found the scanner, put his hand on it, and said "Master Chief, Master Chief." The Chief closed his locker, and tried to re-open it. Upon finding that he couldn't without ripping the door off, he put his hand on the scanner and said "Master Chief." The locker popped open. Three other compartments did too.

"Ender Wiggin, Ender Wiggin." Ah, so the kid _was_ as intelligent as he thought he was.

The Chief turned back to the contents of his locker. There were five jumpsuits and a lap desk. Four of the suits were identical to the one he was wearing, and one was white. There was also an armored suit. It looked similar to a space suit, but there was no airtight seal and it was well padded. He also found what appeared to be a pistol.

John froze, before warily picking it up and examining it. There was a piece of glass on the muzzle, but that didn't mean anything. _Would they really give a bunch of six-year-olds weapons?!_ He suddenly had pause. _Well, we were six when we got weapons…._

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He placed the pistol down and closed his locker. He crawled onto his bunk and reclined, looking apathetic. A young man with a kindly face came in, and saw Ender examining one of the pistols.

"Not laser," he said. Ender jerked and looked up at him. "But it has a tight enough beam. Well-focused. You can aim it and make a three-inch circle of light on a wall a hundred meters off."

So they _wouldn't_ give kids lethal weapons. _Smart move._ He was watching one boy pull another's shirt over his head.

"What's it for?"

"One of the games we play during recreation. Does anyone else have his locker open?" He paused, meeting a bunch of blank stares.

"I have." He grunted.

The man smiled at him before turning back to the group. "Okay, two people. Anyone else?" More stares. "I mean, have you followed directions and coded in your voices and hands? You can't get into the lockers until you do. This room is your home for the first year or so here at the BattleSchool, so get the bunk you want and stay with it. Ordinarily, we let you elect your chief officer and install him in the lower bunk by the door, but apparently that position has been taken. Can't recode the lockers now. So think about whom you want to choose. Dinner in seven minutes. Follow the lighted dots on the floor. Your color code is red yellow yellow -whenever you're assigned a path to follow, it will be red yellow yellow, three dots side by side-go where those lights indicate. What's your color code boys?"

"Red yellow yellow."

John spoke in his normal monotone, but inside he was having one of those gut-wrenching panic moments like the first time he discovered Halo's true purpose, or when he realized fully that Cortana was gone. _A _whole year_! And that's just the first! Good _god_ I hope that there's another way home._

The young man was speaking again. "Very good. My name is Dap. I'm your mom for the next few months." There was laughter, and Dap smiled. "Laugh all you like, but keep it in mind. If you get lost in the school, which is quite possible, don't' go opening doors. Some of them lead outside." Some snickers. "Instead just tell someone that your mom is Dap, and they'll call me."

Something told the Chief that getting lost would not be a problem, and that he'd rather fight more flood before he spoke the words 'my mom is Dap.'

"Or tell them your color, and they'll light up a path for you to get home. If you have a problem, come talk to me. Remember, I'm the only person here who's paid to be nice to you. But not too nice. Give me any lip and I'll break your face. OK?"

The Chief smirked. He'd like to see him try.

Dap continued to talk about the BattleSchool, this time about it being a giant loop. In a way, it was similar to a Halo. _Stop right there, delete the thought, and take a deep breath._ Nothing this school full of children contains could even _compare_ to a Halo full of flood.

Eventually, Dap left. John noticed that almost immediately the boy with the broken arm was gathering a gang. On the other hand, Ender was huddled on his bunk.

The Chief huffed irritably. He couldn't care less. Feeling tired, he rolled onto his side, not bothering to get under the covers, and closed his eyes.

He wasn't sleeping, but observing while he got some rest. He was paying attention to every word spoken in the room. His augmented hearing allowed him to hear the conversation about Ender going on in the group. They didn't like him. Then the conversation turned towards the Chief.

"Who the heck does he think he is, anyway?"

"Don't know, but have you heard his voice? It's weird."

"He's a freak."

There was more gossip until Dap came and got them for dinner. He opened his eyes as boys began to file out of the door. Ender was one of the last, and John followed him out.

They were taken to a large mess hall and put into line. Once they had their food, they sat at tables in a corner of the room. Most of the boys sat on one table, and Ender sat off by himself. John looked between the two for a second, holding a tray of food. He sighed and sat next to Ender. Immediately the other group started talking about it.

John ignored them expertly as Ender smiled at him. They quietly observed the mess hall. There were lots of older kids in color-coded uniforms that sat together. A large scoreboard was hanging from the wall. A list of animals and some statistics was displayed on it. _Must be team standings._

There was a boy that came and talked to Ender. The Chief kept his mouth shut and listened with half an ear. The kid was angry and wanted an ear to complain to, so he didn't pay much attention. _So I need to be a leader huh? _He grinned._ No problem. _

After everyone had eaten, they went back to the room. The children were left to entertain themselves. The Chief used his time to do all of the research he could on inter-dimensional portals, time portals, or even slipspace portals. There was nothing. He promptly attempted to hack what he could for information. He managed to break a few firewalls, but nothing fruitful came from it.

He stared at the screen in frustration. _I will find something to use._ With a sigh, he put his desk away and crawled into bed. Before long, others did too. A little while after the lights went out, he heard crying. He couldn't blame them. He had cried too, when he was taken. Though, for the most part, he had been to damn tired to cry.

Doing his best to tune it out, he fell asleep.

* * *

Fire. Screaming. The screeching cries of Flood as they attacked an opponent. The roaring of Sangheili battle-cries and firearms. This was the background as he plugged clip after clip of assault rifle ammo into the oncoming tidal wave of Flood.

He backed up as the mountain of rotting flesh rolled closer. John swore as his last clip ran out.

Flinging the useless weapon away, he turned and ran. There was nothing else to do. There were no weapons on the ground. No allies to get clips from. All he could do was run.

Suddenly, he was tackled from behind. Rolling from the force of the impact, he turned to face his attacker. His fist drew back to punch, until he saw the Arbiter's rotting face.

The Chief let out a strangled cry, before smashing it away. Only it was replaced with one of his Spartans, Kelly.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't strike her. And for his weakness, his helmet was ripped off, and the Flood tore into him. He screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, adding his cries to the countless others echoing from Earth's surface.

* * *

Everyone awoke to the screaming. The child on the bottom bunk at the front left was howling at the top of his lungs as if he were being eaten alive, and was flailing about with a frightening ferocity.

The lights came on, and Dap attempted to calm the youth. Chief, as he called himself.

"Hey, it's okay, you're-" Dap was cut off as the Chief's fist connected with his jaw, breaking it easily.

Falling off, his bunk, Chief trembled as he scrambled for the door. "KELLY!" He ran for about several minutes, screaming his head off before he stopped.

He did so abruptly, though his voice had grown quit hoarse quite quickly. He slowed from a sprint to a walk, and then a stop. He turned, walked over to a wall, and slumped against it.

His face was a blank mask when the adults found him. He wouldn't talk, didn't make a sound. No matter how hard they pressed, the blank look and silence pervaded. They gave up, and took him back to his room.

The other children looked at him as if he had three heads. They watched as he crawled into his bunk, and closed his eyes. Eventually, they did too. However, none of them knew that he dozed lightly all night, whimpering the names of his Spartans, and waking the second he started to drift into a deeper sleep.


	3. Tactics

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Ender's Game, and I would like to thank the creators of both worlds for creating something awesome. Also, I don't have a Beta, nor do I want one. If you see an error, please let me know.**

**AN: First, as mentioned in the description, if you have any good ideas for a cover, please let me know. Second, just so that everyone is aware, updates on this story are not going to be regular. There will be fits and spurts as life and other interests come at me.**

Chapter 3, Tactics

When the Chief finally awoke, he was still exhausted. For a second he didn't understand, and then last night came flooding in. _Great. Just great._ It didn't make sense. He had endured nightmares as bad if not worse than that before, and it hadn't affected him even similarly. Why now?

_Maybe because my body is that of a child's, the hormonal balance is making it harder to deal with emotions._ If so, that would suck. _Perhaps there was a part that I don't remember that was worse._ Unlikely. _Maybe this timeline/universe is screwing with my self-control._ Possible. _It had better not be option one._

He dragged himself off his bed and dressed in another of the jump suits. He moved sluggishly, his body pulling him down with exhaustion that was both physical and mental.

"Hey," it was Ender. "you okay?"

He grunted and closed his locker, hands itching to pick up a razor and shave. Heck, he missed everything about his normal routine. It was starting to bug him, too.

Ender hesitated. "If you want to talk about it-"

"I don't." His tone was final as he got onto the floor and started doing push-ups. Ender stared at him for a second before getting dressed himself.

During breakfast the Chief sat on the opposite end of the table from Ender. Ender slid to his end of the table, and the Chief ignored him. Then Ender pestered him with questions the entire meal until it got too annoying.

"Stop."

"What?" God, maybe this kid _wasn't_ as smart as he thought.

"Asking me if I'm okay. Asking me if I want to talk. _Stop asking me questions_." He reinforced his request with a glare. Ender shut up.

The other children wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day. Though, they didn't have much of a chance. They were assigned classes, all geared towards combat. For the Chief, it was easy. He had learned this material when he was six-nearly seven. Mastered it by seven-nearly eight. Only, he didn't let it show. He was careful to appear average, so as to not draw attention. He needed to blend in until he could go home.

He watched with grim amusement as all of the kids, even Ender, struggled with the materials they were being presented. He enjoyed watching them work their brains. They made entertaining faces.

However, it seemed that at this phase of their training, the games were the main focus. The game room was full of different games. Some were archaic 2D, some were 3D. Some were simple, some were complex. Some were for only one player, some had players helping each other, and others pitted them against each other.

Most of games his launch group played were simple 2D ones, but he noticed Ender watching some of the holographic 3D games being played. Deciding he had nothing better to do, he loped over to Ender in the low gravity.

"How's the system?"

Ender turned to him with a blank face. "Excuse me?"

The Chief grunted. "The system. Is it easy to use, or are the rules too good." Ender gave him a blank stare, but he could see it in his eyes that Ender knew exactly what he was talking about. "I know you understand what I'm saying."

Ender broke eye contact. "It's pretty simple."

The Chief nodded. "Care to share, or are you going to keep it to yourself?"

So Ender told him what he had seen, and the Chief managed to make a few observations that the kid had missed. There weren't many, though.

Eventually Ender played a game against one of the older boys. He played two out of three. He lost his first game, narrowly won his second, and demolished the enemy on his third turn. The Chief got a kick off their dumbfounded looks, and it amused him how they tried to use Ender's moves after berating him.

However, the Chief never played. He didn't bother touching any of the player-versus-player games. He knew that he would get competitive and use all of his knowledge and skill to demolish whomever he was battling. He didn't want that attention. Instead he wasted his time on simple player-versus-computer games. He didn't have any intention of staying long, and kept his connections to a minimum for it. Though, that was going to get much harder as time went on.

* * *

The boy who's arm Ender had broken was named Bernard. He had a French accent, while none of the other kids seemed to have an accent. He had his little group of friends that had made him their leader. They were bullies, and continually targeted him and Ender.

For the most part, it was little things. Kicking bunks, tripping, jostling, name calling and such. The Chief ignored it for the most part. However, they targeted Ender more than him because of a few intimidating glares he had handed out. So they often left him alone, for his air of power could not be shaken, and made the others uneasy around him.

Yet it was Ender who launched the first attack. Ender had noticed that Shen was not well-liked amongst the group, who made fun of for how his butt moved when he walked. Ender took the opportunity to strike at Bernard.

One day, as John was working on hacking the teacher's firewalls-something he wasn't sure if he could ever do at all-a message suddenly paraded around the edge of the desk every thirty seconds.

COVER YOUR BUTT. BERNARD IS WATCHING.  
-GOD

That sent Bernard into a fit of rage, and he eventually yelled that it couldn't be Shen, because it took too much brains for him.

"And why would that be?" The entire room went silent as they watched the Chief roll off his bunk. He rarely spoke. When he did, though, it was low and deep, with an authoritative rumble too it. When he talked, everyone listened. "Why would he not be smart enough to send a fake message?"

Bernard glared angrily at him. "He's even dumber than you are! Besides, he's a little _worm_."

"If I recall correctly, Shen did better than you on the last math test."

At this point, Bernard was purple with anger. "Why you little- It wasn't Shen, and it wasn't you, so who was it?!"

John had to force his face to remain neutral. "It must have been God."

With an infuriated roar, Bernard lunged at him. Stepping easily to the side, he dodged Bernard's fist. The boy turned, and threw another punch at the Chief. As if it was no effort, the Chief caught the boy's wrist. As another blow flew at him, he grabbed the other wrist.

Bernard struggled to escape the Chief's grasp, and upon finding that he couldn't, he kicked at John's stomach. The Chief twisted the boy's arms across each other and spun, pulling the arms over his shoulder. Then he let go.

Bernard stumbled backwards, eyes glittering with anger as he rubbed his wrists. The Chief quickly spun to face him.

"If you want to fight, go to the game room. Otherwise, save it." With that, he clambered back onto his bunk and continued his research project. Bernard stalked away to lick his wounds, and order returned to the room once more.

After showers, there was another message on the desks. His lips twitched upward when he read it.

I LOVE YOUR BUTT. LET ME KISS IT.  
-BERNARD

He liked it. He liked that Ender was willing to stand up to Bernard in any form. He liked the innovative tactics that would gain an ally. Ender was a planner. A strategist. He knew how and when to strike for a perfect kill. He would make a better commander than most adults. Maybe it was worth his time to invest in Ender some.

Eventually Dap entered and did exactly what Ender wanted him to, destroyed Bernard's rule.

At breakfast the next day, Shen joined him and Ender.

"Hey guys!" Shen sounded cheery. "I wanted to thank you. It was great of you guys to do that." He paused. "So Ender, how'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Ender was pulling the innocent card.

"I'll give you a hint, look under users." Enders looked at him with a mock glare, while a realization hit Shen.

He laughed. "Ha! I should make a Buttwatcher account."

"Why's that?"

Shen grinned. "It's Bernard's new name." Shen and Ender laughed, while the ghost of a smile touched the Chief's lips. When their laughter died down, Shen looked thoughtful. "So, uh, Chief, what was with that thing a couple nights ago?"

John's expressing became dark. "I don't want to talk about it, so don't ask."

"Oh."

Two other launchies came up and sat with them.

"So…" The Chief sighed and looked up at Shen. "Why do you call yourself "Chief"?"

Crap. He hadn't thought of a good cover story. He really needed to pull something out right now… "It's my middle name." _Please let that be good enough._

"What's your first name?" Oh _come on_.

He did his best to look sad and dropped his gaze to his tray. "The only people that knew were my family."

Ender-curse the sharp kid-picked up on the past tense. "Were?"

The Chief glared at him. "I don't want to talk about it."

For the rest of breakfast, he stayed quiet. The others left him alone, and he was allowed to finish his meal in peace.

The entire rest of the day, he was quiet. More so than normal. He was hostile, too. He glared at anyone that came too close, and let his body language radiate irritation. Finally, when they got to the game room, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hey Ender."

Ender looked up from the game he was playing. It was a mind game if he had ever seen one, and he avoided it like the plague.

"Come play me on Spaceships." It was the game that Ender had played against the older boys and demolished them. He had never touched the controls, but knew the moves and the rules. That, coupled with his experience and reflexes, would ensure victory.

But Ender didn't know that. "Okay." He shrugged, saved, and stood by the Chief until there was an opening on the game console.

He took the unfamiliar controls, and quickly pushed buttons to figure it out.

"Two out of three?" Ender looked evenly at him.

"Whatever you say."

So it went. He started slowly, rather cautious. However he quickly picked up the pace, and demolished Ender. The second game went quicker than the first. It felt _amazing_ to exert himself at all.

"Dang. You sure you haven't played this before?" Ender was curious, not upset at all. He wasn't as competitive as the Chief, not as vicious.

"Absolutely." He had used real ships, real people, and lost real friends. That note rung within him until he fell asleep that night, and he dreamed of real battles he had lost in his life.


	4. I've Been Here Before

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Ender's Game, and I would like to thank the creators of both worlds for creating something awesome. Also, I don't have a Beta, nor do I want one. If you see an error, please let me know.**

**AN: Share your ideas for the story please! Yours may or may not make it in, but I plan on having an epilogue chapter that contains a mini-chapter for each idea. Just for the fun of it. So, share and see what happens.**

Chapter 4, I've Been Here Before…

Anderson entered Graff's room with apprehension. He had been notified of that there was an issue that needed his and Graff's immediate attention. He just hadn't been told what the issue _was_.

"Ah, glad you're finally here."

Anderson nodded. "You said it was urgent?"

"It is."

There was a moment of silence as Graff flicked through files on his computer. Then he sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"Sir?"

"You know that kid on Ender's launch that glared at us?" Anderson nodded. "I decided to look into him. Guess what I found."

"What, sir?"

"Nothing."

It took a moment to register. That they had a recruit in the BattleSchool that had no information whatsoever in the servers. That a ghost had made it onto the shuttle without being noticed.

"I also realized that he wasn't on the shuttle's manifest. Nor do any of the cameras show him boarding the shuttle. It's like he appeared out of nowhere."

Anderson had to take a minute to sort out his thoughts. "What should we do?"

Graff looked at him. "That's part of why you're here. We need to keep an eye on him, but I don't want you to let him know that you are. Keep tabs and keep your eyes peeled. I want to find out exactly what we're dealing with here."

Anderson nodded. "Yes sir."

After being dismissed, he took a shower. He stared at his reflection on a foggy mirror. _What is this boy?_

* * *

The Chief looked out at the Battle Room with excitement. _This_ was his domain. Here he was the king of the hill, and he knew it was going to show. He just had to act somewhat clumsy at first to make it look like he had not had training in null gee. Once that was over, though, it was going to be fun.

The boys filed into the Battle Room slowly, gripping handholds tightly and sticking to the wall. He bounced in place, letting his impatience show. _Why the heck is it taking so long?_

Ender was in about the middle of the line. By the time it was the Chief's turn to go in, he had taken off towards a side of the chamber. John pulled himself out onto a railing as he watched Ender go flying. Suddenly, he re-oriented himself and flew towards the wall in a dive.

_Yes_. Then he tried landing on his feet and going into a roll. Suffice to say, it didn't work. However, it was obvious that Ender had noticed the way that his legs canted him off an angle. Eventually, he returned.

"What are you trying to do, kill yourself?" asked Shen.

"Try it," Ender encouraged. "The suit keeps you from hurting yourself, and you can control your bouncing with your legs, like this." Ender promptly demonstrated the leg movement, and Bernard and his friend, Alai took off.

The Chief decided that it was time to move. He gathered his legs underneath him, noticing that the suit enhanced his movements some. He grinned. _This should be fun._

With a powerful thrust, he flung himself into the Battle Room. His angle was off because of the unfamiliarity of the suit, but he could adjust for it. Instead, to make his "learning" look real, he flailed around a bit and let himself bounce off the wall. After a couple minutes of practice, he "got the hang of it," and was flying around the Battle Room as if he was born there.

Suddenly he noticed that Ender and Alai were talking. _Wait, what?_ Alai was Bernard's best friend. _He must be making peace._ The Chief watched with interest as they pushed off the wall together, spinning as they went. He was impressed when Ender made a few adjustments and stopped the orbiting. Then they pushed off each other, going flying in opposite directions.

At that point, he turned to his gun. Pulling it out, he examined it. There were two buttons by his thumb, one red and one white. He experimentally pulled the trigger, aiming at the wall. A small circle of red light appeared, and the gun warmed in his hand. After releasing the trigger, the gun cooled. _Like Covenant weaponry._ He thumbed the white button, and pulled the trigger. Apparently it was a lamp. The red button turned it back into a weapon. _Wonder what happens when it hits the suit._ He shot his foot. Instantly, his leg from the knee down locked up. It was a type of stun round.

He holstered his weapon and turned his attention back to Ender. Apparently him, Alai, Shen, and Bernard were planning something. With an expert push, he flew at them. It took a quick spin to avoid hitting a group of boys, but he made it easily.

"Planning something?" He landed with a thump on the railing.

Bernard looked at him with hatred. "What's it to you?"

Ender decided to intervene. "We were going to go freeze everyone with-"

"The gun? My thoughts exactly."

"We don't need him." Apparently Bernard held grudges.

"You shoot me and I'll shoot back."

Bernard narrowed his eyes. "You're on, after we freeze the wimps out there."

The Chief cracked a rare grin. He was too happy about being in zero gee with any type of firearm to care. "Will do."

So they went around freezing everyone. He subtly kept track of who got how many "kills". He came in first, with Ender second and Alai not far behind him. Then was Bernard, and then Shen. Unfortunately for them, they ran out of others to shoot.

"You're mine now!" Bernard charged him, firing rapidly.

Instead of firing back, he jumped away, flipping end-over-end and landing neatly on a wall, behind a group of frozen boys. He used it as cover when he fired, keeping the others from getting a good angle on him and managing to freeze some limbs.

"Hey, it's you guys against me. Unless you want to win, then you can come to my side."

He heard the laughter-filled cry of "Never!" from Ender.

"Suit yourself."

The fight raged on for another few minutes. They managed to freeze his left arm, but that wasn't a problem. He was debating over whether or not he should let them win. If he didn't, he would be drawing a lot of attention. A launchy defeating four others on his first time in the Battle Room? Unlikely.

So, he let them score a few more hits, before freeing him. By that point, everyone else had taken a side and was cheering enthusiastically. As he was finally frozen, there was a great cry, part in victory, part in defeat.

Then they started floating towards the opening through which they had entered. Everyone also rotated to orient themselves to the gravity from coming in. There stood Dap, with a device on his had.

He went around touching those that were frozen, and they became unfrozen. This brought the slew of complaints. Apparently it wasn't fair that the five of them had shot them all when they weren't ready. Dap chastised them and they began training.

It was mostly how to move and what the gun did, so he barely paid attention. For the most part, he just enjoyed being weightless.

* * *

The political pattern shifted amongst the group, more even than before. More open and friendly. When it came time to choose a launch leader, Alai was the pick. The Chief voted for Alai himself.

The next week was a bit rough. He continued to search every source he could for any information at all on any type of portal device. He couldn't find one. That, plus the unfamiliar surroundings and new body had him on edge. His savior was the Battle Room.

Being weightless calmed him, brought back the training and instincts that he so desperately missed. When he could, he went alone. He would sneak out and slip into an empty Battle Room. This was the only thing keeping him sane. For there, all alone, he could practice nearly fifty years of combat experience. He could perform maneuvers that these children could only dream of. He could use every ounce of his strength to go as fast as physically possible. It was the only thing tying him to home.

He was fairly sure that some of the administrators watched him once in a while, but there was little he could do. He couldn't give up his time alone, it would drive him mad. No, he'd just have to hope they left him be.

Unfortunately, the peace couldn't last.

One day at dinner, he noticed Ender and Alai leaving early. He looked down at his dinner, and decided he was done. Dumping the leftovers in the trash, he followed them. He walked slowly, allowing himself to admire the architecture of the BattleSchool. It wasn't nearly as awe-inspiring as a Halo, but it was pretty impressive for this world.

After a while, he reached the room. Ender was sitting on his bed holding a scrap of paper, looking like he was close to crying. Alai was talking to him, obviously quite upset.

"What's going on?" They looked up at him in surprise.

Ender handed him his paper. "I'm being transferred." He was going to Salamander Army.

John frowned. "It's too early. Besides, you're not that good yet." _I am, though._

"Yeah, well…" Ender looked far from pleased.

He sighed. "Nothing that can be done about it." He smiled at Ender. It was something he did not do lightly. "I hope that the commander knows a good solider when he sees one." It was sincere. Coming from the Chief, it was high praise. At this point, everyone knew his serious down-to-business demeanor.

Ender smiled. "I'll miss you too."

John nodded and stood up, going to his own bunk. He let Alai and Ender say goodbye alone. After Ender left, Alai slumped and clambered onto his bunk.

* * *

Graff looked over the report that Anderson had given him. He had to re-read a few parts in shock. During his alone time in the Battle Room, the kid displayed strength and stamina that few adults could match. He also moved with a precision honed only by intense training and experience. Some of the moves weren't even known to the BattleSchool.

Then there was his mental capacity. His school work showed a fairly average kid for the BattleSchool in terms of grades. However, he was obviously finding the material easy. His mistakes were blatantly forced, and he never spent much time on his homework. He also had managed to crack a few of the teacher's firewalls. He was continually chipping away at their defenses, just a little faster than they could keep up. What intrigued him was _why_, though.

The only thing that he looked for was portals. He scoured anything that could have information about going from _here_ to _there_ without actually crossing the distance. Anything that might possibly contain such information was picked clean.

Top that off with his barely-suppressed intimacy with military tactics, and he didn't know what he was looking at.

"And you're telling me that he's not a threat because…?"

Anderson shifted uncomfortably. "Well, he's not doing any harm. He keeps his distance, only interacting with others when he needs to. With his digging, it's obvious what he's looking for, and we can track where he goes. As long as he doesn't touch anything that would be dangerous if leaked, there's not a problem."

Graff glared at Anderson. "I don't care. He hacked the administrator's network, and is starting to get to ship and weapon reports. If he gets into those, we'll have to do something drastic. Seeing as I'd rather not, You need to deal with this."

Anderson sighed. "Yes sir."


	5. New Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Ender's Game, and I would like to thank the creators of both worlds for creating something awesome. Also, I don't have a Beta, nor do I want one. If you see an error, please let me know.**

Chapter 5, New Friends

It was the second day after Ender had left. The launch group was very subdued, and most everyone was sad to have him leave.

The Chief missed having him around. He was the only one out of the entire launch group that he might have even _considered_ for Spartan training. He was also undoubtedly the most intelligent of the group. The Chief actually had enough respect for the kid to engage in any type of conversation with him. Without Ender, the Chief was alone.

For now though, he had to put it aside. Tonight, he was going to sneak into the teacher's area to go digging. He had hit the point that he couldn't hack any further into the firewalls. Now he needed a log-in to get what he wanted. A teacher's log-in.

He pretended to do homework. Lying on his bunk, he did math without looking, allowing mistakes here and there. He was waiting for the lights to go out and the others to settle down. Once they did, he could sneak out.

It took awhile, but he was patient. The lights went out, and the boys settled down. Before long, he could hear the deep breaths that signified sleep. It was time.

_I doubt anyone else has done this before. _He dressed in one of the jumpsuits. It was a dull gray, and he had "fixed" the bright yellow highlights that signified a launchy. The color would disguise him well, and he should go unnoticed.

Creeping along walls and sticking to shadows, he made his way to the history instructor. He always stayed late, and the Chief planned on following him to the administrator's area. He peeked around a corner, before ducking back quickly. The instructor was just leaving.

He shadowed the teacher, keeping as far out of sight as he dared without loosing him. Once they started getting closer to a place that he knew had a door to the administrator's area, he caught up.

Silently slinking closer to him, the Chief managed to get within five meters of the teacher without him noticing.

His heart began to pound, and he forced himself to stay calm. _Don't need to be given away by a racing heart._

The door slid open for the teacher, and John silently sprinted forward. He managed to get through the door just before it closed. Once through, he ducked into the nearest corner and let the instructor walk away. He didn't need him anymore.

Once he had gone, the Chief began to creep through the hallways. He went slowly, keeping track of every corner turned, building a map in his head.

There came a point where the halls got lighter, and he went towards the source of the light. _Please let it be computer screens._ It was computer screens.

He had found a room filled with row after row of computers. _Jackpot_. Keeping an eye out for anyone, he slunk along the darkest wall of the room. Looking down each isle, he wasn't finding any logged on computers until….

"Why have you dragged me up at this hour again?"

The Chief ducked under a desk and found the darkest shadow he could. There were some advantages to being small.

"We have to administer that test tomorrow, and you need to show me what you did. Your spelling is terrible."

"Do we have to do it now?"

"Yes. However, if you just log-on, I can look it over. I'll sign you out once I'm done."

He heard a yawn of exhaustion. "Fine. I just want to get back to sleep. I don't know how those damn kids do it…"

"They have more energy than us. It's just a fact."

By this point, the one teacher had logged on. Mumbling a tired good-night, he walked away.

The other teacher spent time searching for the test, and then sat down and read. His internal clock put it at about a half an hour before the teacher stirred. Stretching and then standing, he began to walk around the room. The Chief watched with narrowed eyes. _Come on, leave already. _As if telepathic, the adult left, mumbling something about a bathroom.

Climbing out from under the desk, he quickly made his way to the computer. He pulled up a search for the settings, and typed in PASSWORD. He was brought to the window that changed usernames and passwords. With a few keystrokes, he showed hidden characters. _Perfect._

USERNAME: LUTHER J. MILLER

PASSWORD: 79W28LS4G61

He quickly repeated the name and passcode in his head over and over again, committing both to memory. With his task completed, he closed the window, leaving it just the way he had found it. Then his plan fell to pieces.

His fingers had just left the keyboard when he heard the last thing he wanted to hear.

"STOP!"

Crap. Standing and holding his hands up, palms out, he turned to face none other than Major Anderson.

* * *

_Fifteen minutes earlier:_

Anderson had just finished up a report on one of the curriculums. It had been long and boring, and he was looking forward to the soft, feathery bed. In reality, the bed was stiff and lumpy, but it didn't matter.

Suddenly, the last thing he wanted to see flashed across the screen.

REPORT TO COLONEL GRAFF'S OFFICE.  
URGENT MATTER.

Groaning with weariness, he stood and made his way to Graff's. If he had been summoned at this hour, it was important. However, he was not expecting to get yelled at.

"Anderson I told you to deal with that Chief boy! What part of deal with it did you not understand!?"

Anderson stood there blinking for a second as the words registered. "Excuse me sir, but what's happened?"

Graff glared at him with a ferocity that he had not seen before. He was actually mildly afraid that he might have a demotion in his future. "That boy is currently inside the teacher's section of the Battle School! He's making his way towards the computer lab now."

Wait, what? _The boy got into an administrative area… how? _

"Anderson, you are personally responsible for this. Get that kid out of here before he does any damage. NOW!"

Taking that as his dismissal, he scrambled out of the room and ran back to his room. _I guess talking to him couldn't wait until the break after all._

He retrieved his stun-pistol that all administrators had been issued. After that is was the long sprint to the computer lab. When he got there, the kid was on a computer. From the color of light on the screen, it was logged on. He'd better not have gotten anything.

"STOP!" He barked, raising his stun pistol and aiming it at the boy.

When the boy stood, palms facing him, there was a cold, calculative look to the boy that he didn't like at all. It made him feel as if _he_ should be the one surrendering.

But that wasn't going to happen. "Tell me exactly how far you've gotten."

* * *

The Chief didn't even consider it. "Nowhere. I didn't have time to touch anything."

Anderson's gaze was hard. "I don't believe you."

Crap. _If he's certain, I might have to get dirty. _He considered his options. If he tried to make a run for it, it would do no good. They _owned_ this station. He could shut his mouth, but the last thing he needed was these people as his enemies. If he spilled the beans, though, there was the potential of ending up in a loony bin. _Not my idea of fun._ Or he could lie.

"Why should I tell you?"

Anderson looked steadily at him. "What other choice do you have?"

The Chief shifted unhappily. "I got to scientific reports. Nothing else. First place I thought I should look."

"And what did you find?"

"That training in null gee from a young age makes better commanders." Anderson looked suspicious. "That's where I got too."

Anderson sighed and lowered his firearm. The Chief relaxed a bit at this. "Chief, we need to talk."

He blinked. "Fine."

Anderson took them to his room, where they wouldn't be interrupted.

"Sit," Anderson said, gesturing to his bed. The Chief sat.

"Chief, cut the crap. You're looking for portals. Why?"

He took a minute to think on his answer. Telling the truth could be dangerous. Yet if he could get access to the information he wanted _without_ causing havoc… he would be in these people's good graces. Considering he had no idea how long he was going to be here, that might be a good thing to have.

"You're not going to believe me." He took a lot of risks in his life. He had survived the ones that threatened his life. Maybe he could count on his luck here as well.

"Try me."

He took a deep breath. "Have you looked at the shuttle's manifest?"

"Yes. You weren't on it. There were no videos of you entering either."

_Okay, there was suspicion anyway_. "That's part of why I'm searching for portals."

* * *

Anderson stared in disbelief at the Chief as he finished his story. This child was apparently a fifty-year-old super-solider that had been in a war with a space faring civilization, and had been transported to here for some unknown reason. His civilization was years in the future, and had developed powerful tools for space travel, such as a type of portal device. Oh, and his best friends were a giant alien and a dead program.

To say that he really didn't believe the Chief was an understatement. In fact, he was planning on filing a psychotic trainee report as soon as the boy left.

"You don't believe me at all, do you?"

"No. With a story like that, how could I?"

"You've watched me while I'm alone in the Battle Room. That doesn't count for anything?"

"Some, but not enough."

The Chief sighed sadly. His posture slumped, and he looked defeated. He felt bad for the kid. He had gone out on a limb to tell him, and was going to be punished for his honesty. "What if I could prove it to you?"

Anderson cocked an eyebrow. "And how would you do that?"

"I'll build you a ship." _Wait a second, what did he just say!?_ "It won't be very big, and it'll take a couple months, but your people won't be able to build anything like it."

He was intrigued. "Very well, I'll get you the parts you need. However, you are not to speak of this to anyone. You will report to me outside of the door you used today every night after lights out to work on it. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. And when I'm done, will you let me look for portals?"

"Maybe."

"Fine. But be warned. If you don't, it's not going to end well."


End file.
